Uncut Magazine 288 (May 2021) Velvet Underground

Uncut Magazine 288 (May 2021) The Velvet Underground

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: With a motherlode of activity planned for this year, we’ve assembled a collection of untold stories and compelling insights on the band who changed everything – those taking part include John Cale, Jonathan Richman, Lenny Kaye, Todd Haynes, Doug Yule and Richard Williams… “Blueprint?” says Cale. “We didn’t want to know…”

OUR FREE CD! Sounds Of The New West Presents: AMBIENT AMERICANA: 15 fantastic tracks from the cream of the cosmic pastoral world, including William Tyler, Steve Gunn, North Americans, Michael Chapman, Chuck Johnson, Dean McPhee, Mary Lattimore, Luke Schneider and more.

Inside the issue, you’ll find:

THE BLACK CROWES: Now reunited, Chris and Rich Robinson look back at their band and the good and bad times around Shake Your Money Maker. But can they keep from falling back into old ways? “This is so important to us – we don’t want to fuck it up…”

BUNNY WAILER: We remember a reggae pioneer who eschewed international stardom with Bob Marley to follow his own spiritual path

RICHARD THOMPSON: The songwriter introduces an exclusive extract from his stunning memoir, Beeswing, as he recalls Fairport Convention‘s transition from a living room in Fortis Green to the stage of the UFO Club

RHIANNON GIDDENS: Locked down in Limerick, the singer and songwriter tells Uncut how her latest album reminds her of home and generations past. “I am the sum of everything that I do…”

LAURIE ANDERSON: With a vinyl reissue of Big Science coming, Anderson discusses lockdown, the joy of “spatial listening” and the new topicality of “O Superman”

AMBIENT AMERICANA: We investigate the growing tide of artists transforming the tools of country music to create innovative, genre-defying sounds, from Chuck Johnson and William Tyler to, even, Bruce Springsteen

BLAKE MILLS: Album by album with the master guitarist and producer

THE SELECTER: The making of “On My Radio”

POSTCARD RECORDS: Alan Horne presents his scrapbook of artefacts and ephemera from the label’s history

In our expansive reviews section, we take a look at new records from Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Ryley Walker, Teenage Fanclub, Sarah Louise, Floating Points with Pharaoh Sanders & The LSO, Samba Touré and more, and archival releases from Neil Young, Bobby Womack, Joe Strummer, Tame Impala, The Who, Ali Farka Touré and others. We catch Mogwai and Judy Collins live online; among the films, DVDs and TV programmes reviewed are Nomadland, He Dreams Of Giants and Mick Fleetwood & Friends’ Peter Green celebration; while in books there’s The Fall, Nick Cave and Alan Warner’s Kitchenly 434.

Our front section, meanwhile, features unseen John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Guy Clark, The Members, Natalie Bergman and an audience with Peter Murphy while, at the end of the magazine, Steve Cropper reveals the records that have soundtracked his life.